Okanagan Valley BC Ski Resorts

Best Skiing In British Columbia - Really!

Move over Whistler! The best British Columbia ski resorts aren't the biggest. ;-) Okanagan Valley BC ski resorts, the interior British Columbia, offer up some of the best skiing and snowboarding fun in BC.

A winter paradise for snowboarding and skiing, the Okanagan is also the perfect place for fun family ski vacation.

Okanagan ski resorts are known for the light snow, what we local's call dry 'Okanagan powder'; the light, dry champagne powder snow created from lots of precipitation and low humidity.

We personally spend most of our winter skiing and snowboarding at Apex Mountain Ski Resort near Penticton BC.

But we also love to hit the bigger slopes at Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna and Silver Star Mountain Resort in Vernon BC, Sun Peaks Ski Resort in Kamloops and Mt. Baldy Ski Resort near Oliver BC.

And with the exception of Sun Peaks Resort, all ski resorts in the Okanagan are within about a two hour drive from each other. Bonus!

We get pretty excited when the first signs of winter in the Okanagan finally comes, usually in November.

After a long hot summer lazing and playing on the best beaches, the winter season and snow is a welcomed sight. (Yup, nothing better than switching out the wakeboard for the snowboard, right?)

Since the mountain ranges surrounding the Okanagan Valley protect the valley itself from coastal and cold arctic weather (well, most of the time), it creates ideal conditions on the slopes.

During spring skiing, it's not uncommon to go ski in the morning, and golfing or biking in the valley in the afternoon!

It's really quite amazing!

Big White and Silver Star are both beautiful winter mountain resorts that you can spend your whole skiing vacation up on the mountain, and yet they're close enough to the city that you can just drive up for a day if you want.

A word of caution - reading these pages about Okanagan BC skiing and snowboarding may induce a warm fuzzy feeling, and daydreaming about winter fresh Okanagan Valley mountain air, soft fluffy snow, creamy hot chocolate and ski vacations. It's ok though, it's perfectly normal ;-)

Apex Mountain Ski Resort, a short drive from the city of Penticton, in the Okanagan Valley, is a fantastic family ski resort, known well for it's steep verticals for those who love a challenge, and plenty of beginner and intermediate runs for the rest of us!

Apex also offers snowshoeing, snowmobile tours, ice climbing, an outdoor hockey rink, skating loop, a fun tube park, limited night skiing, and National Ski and Snowboard Week in mid January. Apex has received recognition as the best small resort destination and out of all the Okanagan BC ski resorts, it's still our favorite. [Read more...]

Mount Baldy Resort, near Oliver, BC, is a growing family ski resort that offers about 35 runs, 500 acres of ski trails and annual snowfall of over 20 feet. You'll find a nice even mix of terrain quite suitable for all ski and snowboard levels.

Of all the ski resorts in the Okanagan Valley, Mt. Baldy is only open Friday through Monday (with the exception of the Christmas holiday season), and it is where the locals go to be the first on the runs after several days of mid week snow. It's a great spot for a weekend ski getaway - quiet and uncrowded.

Crystal Mountain Resort is near Westbank, BC (or it's new name - Westside). This is also a great family ski resort, open for daytime, that is up and coming with expansion to be a full season resort. You'll find more than 20 great runs on 470 acres of downhill trails. With tons of snow here, snoeshoeing at Crystal Mountain offers 12 km of snowshoe trails, and you can even go on a guided snowshoe tour.

Skiing and snowboarding in the Okanagan British Columbia doesn't get much better than this! Big White Ski Resort is one of the largest of all BC ski resorts, and is a short 56 km (35miles) drive from the city of Kelowna, in the central Okanagan Valley.

The resort has trails for all levels of skiers and snowboarders from novice to expert. Over half of the downhill runs here are intermediate, and the longest run over 4 miles long!

Big White is adored for it's sunny weather (well- most of the time!), dry powder, a mild average temperature of -5°C (23° F), and 750 cm (24.5 ft) average snowfall. There's also a huge terrain park, cross country skiing on 25 km (15.5 miles) of Nordic trails, tubing park, a skating rink, snowmobile trails, and more.

Siver Star Ski Resort

Silver Star Mountain Resort, located a short drive from Vernon BC, is one of the most luxurious, yet family friendly, ski resorts in British Columbia. Not the cheapest, but certainly one of the best ski areas Canada has. It's also a very popular summer destination for hiking and biking, and has hosted the Okanagan Summer Wine Festival.

Silver Star ski resort is like a little mini Whistler, with a Victorian village, restaurants, bistros, nightlife and shopping, and is one resort you can spend your entire winter ski vacation without leaving the resort. Of course, if you're here during the Vernon Winter Carnival, you might want to spend some time in the city, especially for the hot air balloons.

Alpine ski season in the Okanagan Valley BC usually begins around early December...(with good luck), and runs to March. Early in the season some resorts make snow to help things along, but by Christmas, it's generally well underway. If you're planning a winter ski vacation, Christmas break is a great time to be here!

Love The Okanagan? :-)